How can you practice anything on your horse when there’s six inches of snow on the ground, it’s below freezing, the wind is blowing, and you’re not blessed with an indoor arena? Here in Colorado, we often have beautiful, sunny days where we can exercise our horses outdoors for hours. On other days, not so much.

As a friend of mine said, "it’s not how you ride your horse; it’s how you live your life." He was referring to work you can do off your horse, such as practice your posture. Cliff Swanson, Advisory Board member and trainer for the Western Dressage Association® of America, explains posture on your horse with, “lift your rib cage off your stomach, hold in your belly below your belt, relax your legs, allowing them to drape around your horse, and point your buckle straight ahead.”

You can do that just about any time and place – sitting at your computer, cooking dinner, driving your car or even mucking out the stalls. Practice it often enough and it becomes second nature, making it really easy to do on your horse.

But what can you do on your horse during those cold winter days? Cliff has a beautiful exercise, which he uses to warm up his horse, consisting of a combination of ten and twenty meter circles (see diagram). I found this is great to practice in the snow, as you can see exactly where you’ve gone astray.

Using the diagram, begin on the 20 meter circle at “A” (1). For our purposes, we will ride counter-clockwise, or on a left rein. Continue to “B”, ride a 10 meter circle (2, 3), then continue out on your 20 meter circle to “C” (4). Ride another 10 meter circle at “C” (5), then continue back on the 20 meter circle to “E”. Repeat the pattern until you return to “A”. When you change reins and repeat the pattern in the clockwise or right rein direction, the tracks in the snow will show you exactly where you drift out or fall in.

Below are the circles my little filly and I did on December 23. This also left a gorgeous pattern in arena, even as the snow melted. What a great way to go back to basics!


Doing this slow work, we were able to focus on preciseness and rhythm. As I rode in the snow, I could hear Cliff’s voice. “Put your inside leg back and push her hip over. Inside rein to outside leg. Tip her nose to the inside.”

When your footing is safe, you can move this exercise into the jog and the lope, perfecting your circles, your rhythm and your communication together. What great fun, even in the snow!

You may be asking about the poles on the 20 meter circle. This is a Western Dressage exercise which I found in WDAA’s Exercise of the Week. Check out http://westerndressageassociation.org/category/blogs/exercise-of-the-week/ for lots of other fun and rewarding exercises you can do with your horse while we’re waiting for Spring.

Pat Van Buskirk is a founding member of WDAA and serves as the Technical and Website Manager on the Board of Directors for the Western Dressage Association® Colorado Affiliate. She is an avid horse enthusiast and has been writing for various horse and auto magazines since 1994.

About the Western Dressage Association® of America: The Western Dressage Association® of America is a 501(c)3 educational non-profit organization focused on providing a model of horsemanship which optimizes the partnership of horse and rider for their mutual benefit.  The mission of the Western Dressage Association® is to honor the horse, to value the partnership between horse and rider and to celebrate the legacy of the American West which it focuses on through its offerings of educational opportunities and events to the equestrian community.  Read more about Western Dressage and the WDAA at their website http://www.westerndressageassociation.org.